156 – Ambush…? (3)
Ernill gazed at the giant sword falling from the sky, her eyes filled with doubt, but she quickly considered what to do about it and came to a conclusion.
“Everyone, scatter!”
If they could block the ridiculously large sword falling from the sky, the troops on the ground would be able to avoid heavy casualties.
However, the problem was that the angels needed to use combination magic to block the sword falling from the sky, and while they were using combination magic, they would be defenseless against the enemy.
And Ernill prioritized the lives of the angels over the lives of the humans.
KA-GA-GA-GAK-!
As soon as her order was given, Ernill watched as the angels spread out in all directions as if they had been waiting for it, and she broke out in a cold sweat as she watched the giant sword fall straight down towards the angels.
On the ground, the screams of the humans echoed incessantly.
“What the-”
In such a situation, Ernill muttered without realizing it.
She also knew that Rathtania had somewhat unpredictable powers.
After all, it was because of that unpredictable power that the angel had asked Heaven to help send 1,000 angels down to the ground.
However, what she saw before her eyes right now was so close to a disaster that she couldn’t possibly describe it as just an ‘unpredictable power’, and she frowned.
The next moment.
“!”
Ernill saw it.
In that brief moment when she hadn’t even realized it, a black-haired girl appeared before her, floating in the void and holding a sword.
And.
“So you’re the leader.”
With those words.
KWAK-!
Ernill’s consciousness was cut off.
And then, after some time had passed, the moment her consciousness, which had been forcibly plunged under the water, awoke again.
“Ugh-!”
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She was able to open her eyes, frowning involuntarily at the throbbing pain in her head.
“…Huh?”
The next moment, she could see it.
A scene of hell unfolding on the prairie where there had been nothing before.
On one side, the corpses of the legion that had clearly been marching with the angels were piled up like a mountain, and the blood of the soldiers flowed on the ground.
And around those soldiers, the angels who had come down from the sky with her, following her orders, were all lying dead on the ground.
With their wings broken, no less.
And in the middle of that hellish scene.
“Is it over?”
“It is over.”
“It’s over.”
They were standing.
“Well, now that that’s over, hand over the black one.”
“Why?”
“Huh? Of course, because it’s mine, so hand it over!”
“How petty. I thought I told you? I don’t have any artifacts.”
“That’s your problem, and I’m not your errand boy,”
“Oh, anyway, you always end up breaking what the Lord gives you and regretting it later, so why bother.”
“…Are you done talking?”
“Let’s fight here, and I’ll go see the master.”
Ernil looked at them blankly as they exchanged words in their own personal hell, which no one would ever call a peaceful conversation.
That moment.
“Huh?”
“!”
Perhaps feeling Ernil’s gaze, Merilda, who had been speaking until just now, turned her gaze and looked at her.
“What, you’re alive?…See, you can’t even handle one job properly.”
“It was a mistake! A mistake!”
Merilda let out a sigh and spoke, while Lynn, who had a slightly flushed face, retorted to her. Lynn looked at her with an annoyed expression and then, without hesitation, drew a sword from the darkness and approached Ernil.
Ernil frowned at Lynn, who was approaching her as if to take her life so casually, but did not make any move.
Because she had already realized it.
No matter what she did at this point, she would not be able to escape from them, let alone avoid death.
“…You have no respect for life.”
Realizing this, Ernil uttered those words to Lynn instead of begging for her life.
“What?”
Lynn frowned as if she didn’t understand, and Ernil spoke.
“I’m saying that you have no respect for life.”
“What, so you’re saying that we should let those who came to attack him live?”
Merilda, who had been listening to the conversation, made a ridiculous expression, but Ernil opened her mouth-
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Then?”
“…At least shouldn’t you feel the weight of the lives you’ve taken-“
Poof-!
-She couldn’t finish.
The reason was that Merilda, who had been far away until a moment ago, was now holding the sword that Lynn was about to draw and had stabbed Ernil in the heart.
And.
“You’re noisy.”
Ernil saw it. The crimson eyes that stared at her indifferently.
“Kuku-“
Looking into her eyes, which held no guilt or indifference in taking a life, Ernil opened her mouth.
“…Don’t think this will end with us. Now that we know of your existence, the Archangel will descend here.”
Ernil spoke as if passing judgment.
However, Merilda listened to her story indifferently.
“Archangel or whatever, I don’t care. What matters is whether or not he’ll try to take my master’s life. -And if anyone tries to take my master’s life-“
He soon spoke, his crimson eyes gleaming fiercely.
“-He’ll die by my hand.”
And with that, Ernil turned his gaze towards the two heroes who were staring at him from behind Merilda.
“Even if it’s a god.”
He let his mind go.
####
In the past, when playing Arteiel, while heroes were definitely one of the essential elements in dungeons, they were also indispensable in wars.
Of course, since the main content of Arteiel was dungeons and wars.
And in such war content of Arteiel, the ones who ultimately determined the outcome of the war were the heroes.
After all, the heroes of Arteiel possessed the power to single-handedly crush an overwhelming number of enemies with their own might.
However, that didn’t mean that all of Arteiel’s war content was focused on the battles of heroes.
Of course, there were classes in Arteiel that were weaker than heroes but were still considerably strong, and there were many items that could weaken the power of heroes, especially in terms of wealth.
Furthermore, even if a hero could single-handedly crush an overwhelming number of enemies, it was still difficult to deal with an unimaginable number of them. So, to be honest, I was a little worried.
But then…
“…You took care of them all?”
“Yes, Master!”
Kim Hyun-woo made a strange expression as he looked at Merilda wagging her tail enthusiastically, as if saying, “Did I do a good job!?”
“…Are you okay?”
“I’m not hurt at all!”
Merilda proudly spins around to show herself off.
In fact, Kim Hyun-woo couldn’t see any wounds, so he thought to himself, ‘5.5 stars is really ridiculous.’ He then stroked her head while looking at her ears twitching with anticipation.
“♥”
Kim Hyun-woo, who was looking at her face as he stroked her head, soon turned his gaze and looked at Rin and Sharl next to her.
“Thank you both for your hard work.”
“I, I only did what was necessary.”
“Me too.”
Nodding several times as if it were natural, they turned their gazes towards Merilda.
To be more precise, they glanced at Kim Hyun-woo’s hand on top of Merilda’s head and then looked back at Kim Hyun-woo.
It was an obvious expression for anyone to see.
If he had been under the Golden Rule, he wouldn’t have been able to properly understand even that simple eye contact, but now that Kim Hyun-woo was free from the Golden Rule, he smiled and stroked their heads.
Rin and Sharl seemed to be waiting for it as they accepted Kim Hyun-woo’s touch. Kim Hyun-woo thought about the past.
‘…I’m sure there weren’t any heroines who liked to have their heads touched except for Merilda.’
Kim Hyun-woo thought as he watched Rin, who had always shown a clear dislike for having her head touched when he played Arteiel, eagerly receiving his touch.
Like that, Kim Hyun-woo, who had neatly blocked the angels’ advance in just a few hours, met Adria again a few hours later.
“Ahem, hello. Lord.”
“Yes.”
He was able to meet Adria once again, who had yet to leave the Lord’s Castle.
“I came to see you because you said you had something to tell me.”
Adria asked as she sat down cautiously upon seeing Kim Hyun-woo.
As it turned out, it was Kim Hyun-woo who had personally invited Adria to the castle today, so he nodded.
“…Yes, I took the liberty of summoning you here because I had a story to tell the Red Dragon. I hope you don’t mind?”
He spoke his mind without hesitation.
“Yes? What do you mean by the Red Dragon?”
“Merilda told me about it.”
“Ah.”
Adria shut her mouth at those words.